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2016 Inception Award | “Plan B”

Sian Jenkins

UTS

Researching Survival

Prologue:

It is truth well known that the earth is going to die. It may not be in this lifetime, or the next; but it will happen, regardless of human interaction, and the Human Race will cease to exist. It is due to this one simple fact that humanity needs to invest in a survival plan, something that will allow for humans to safely inhabit a new solar system before it is too late …some might call this “Plan B”.

What people don’t know, is that “Plan B” has already begun, it is just hidden away in Sydney Harbour, taking shelter underneath Fort Denison.

Chapter 1: It is Here the Journey Begins

It is a tricky concept “new life”, especially with the introduction of technology. Where are boundaries drawn, what lines are humans willing to cross
in regards to new life? Is it a small infant being welcomed into a loving family with instant reward? Or is it a scienti c experiment, that will eventually sustain humanity?

For here and now… new life is a series of scienti c experiments, to grow and heal humans (embryonic or fully grown), create arti cial intelligences that are capable of raising and teaching young. This project explores the notion of a facility that contributes

to the dream of populating and surviving on an exoplanet when the lifestyle on Earth is no longer viable.

Chapter 2: The Complication

It is evident that designing the future in the
present would have its drawbacks. The dream being proposed contained concepts that might be impossible for the current logical human population to achieve; but then, not everything has to be logical. Answers have been written for years in
the pages of novels and on the screen in movies. Science Fiction provided the wealth of knowledge and research that was needed to guide this
design not only in program, but in functionality and appearance.

A good place to start to draw up a design that runs parallel to the everyday life was with fictional references. These were stretched, torn and manipulated in every way to pull apart key design elements that allowed the creation of the (Sci-Fi) A-Z’s and hence allow for the commencement of “Plan B”. The key design element you might ask? Water. Research was pointing towards building “Plan B” as an isolated underwater facility, utlising and bene ting from the use of the water’s colder temperature as thermal regulation to achieve a more sustainable generation of power. In addition, the underwater location provided a disguise, keeping “Plan B” and its ethically compromising concepts safely hidden away from Sydney’s population and their judging minds.

Epilogue:

It seemed counterproductive to paint this picture
in a realistic light, therefore, “Plan B” became a series of drawings to be read as its own story. Like most stories there is a beginning a middle and an end. The beginning was the alphabet, how do you form any story without it? The middle contained the concept, research elements and the in uences of science ction, and the end… how the combination of existing assets and the ctional world led to a complete design for the future.